Quasquicentennial Quotes

Enjoy a quote from one of many different “distinctively Goshen” voices — presidents, professors, students and alumni — in our 125-year history.

“The Elkhart Institute … is after all an evidence of the spirit of progress among us in the line of education. This is but a welling up of a pent up stream that could no longer be suppressed.”

John S. Coffman, 1896

“When I think of education I get into my mind these two words, culture and service.”

Noah E. Byers, 1902

“… to fit people to live in an ever-changing world.”

Irvin R. Detweiler, 1921

“One must form … a sane view of our relation to knowledge and ignorance.”

Minnie Swartzendruber Graber, 1925

“This concern, ‘Where Now, World?’ is becoming more real and perplexing … every day. We have the answer, don’t we? And what are we doing about it?”

Virgil Vogt, 1954

“One of the worst things a Church college can do is assume that everybody is a Christian.”

The Record, 1957

“Christians must face the dilemmas of our world, not as spectators but as participants in the fullest sense. We can do no less.”

Tatsuo Suzuki, Alan Kreider and Stan Reedy, 1961

“Goshen begins with the assumption … that what is odd, exceptional and different may nevertheless be worthwhile, if not revelatory.”

J. Lawrence Burkholder, 1984

“Only as it embraces this uniqueness can Goshen be secure in opening itself to diversity.”

Ann Minter Fetters, 1984

“What do you want to learn? What do you need to learn? And where do you want to look?”

Ruth Krall, 1981

“One cannot return from SST with the same worldview as when one left.”

Mandy Yoder, 1999

“Can there be anything more contagious than a campus filled with joy?”

President James E. Brenneman, 2006

“To make our world a more peaceful, just place, we must begin by seeing, honoring and respecting each other’s identities, experiences and stories.”

Dominique Chew, 2015

“Our seeds have wings the wind propels.”

Shari Miller Wagner, 2018

“I am convinced that we — Goshen College — cannot achieve our mission without our collective and conscious work toward diversity, equity and inclusion.”

President Rebecca Stoltzfus, 2019